The Candidate Of District 4
by Fandom888
Summary: Will May survive the forty sixth hunger games? Without help from her terrible mentors, she's fighting, against a great opponent, Titus. (I've got such a good idea for the arena!)


**Authors note: I've got a rough idea of what's going to happen but if there is something you would like to incorporate in the story I might be able to make it happen!**

**Happy hunger games and may the odds be "ever" in your favor!**

"_Fishing_, why does district four have to stand for _fishing_?" I think as I tap my foot continuously till I feel the tug in my fishing rope which tells me I've caught a fish. I pull the fish out of the water. I groan when I see that it's the wrong type, I have to catch ten catfish before nightfall and all I've gotten so far is a pile of redfins, I add the fish to the "ever so slightly" growing pile.

I'd been put on fishing duty today because I got in trouble for throwing a knife at a blond muscular guy in the training center for insulting my family. So _of course_ he made a big scene out of it and said I wanted to actually kill him. I told the peacekeepers that if I had wanted to kill him he would've been dead! In the end the authorities chose to side with the guy because his parents are well known victors and if the authorities did anything to their boy, they would not hesitate to publicly humiliate them or worse. So now I'm stuck here, on duty, as I have been for the last couple of hours. Staring blankly into the dark blue water. Waiting for a catfish to wander by. They don't actually need them; they just needed to find a punishment. One would think that fishing is fun. Well, maybe for a while... but just sitting here for more than five hours straight is a whole different story. I would give anything to be at home or the training center right now.

"Great," I grumble, "It had to be today!" It just so happened to be the reaping tomorrow, and I would've wanted to train one more day just in case I'm reaped.

My stomach grumbles loudly, I look up at the sky, it's almost nightfall and I haven't caught a single catfish. I'm hoping that someone will come by and tell me that it enough for today, when nobody shows up, I decide to start to head home. Even if it will end up in punishment for me.

I turn around to leave when I remember the pile of redfins, they don't need it and it would make a nice meal. So I take the fish with me. When I arrive home I slump down on my bed without dinner and instantly fall asleep.

I wake up to the smell of breakfast. I force my aching self to get out of bed and drag myself to the breakfast table. I frown when I see it's only set for one person, when I notice the tiny paper note. It says:

_Hi May,_

_Padma and me are out looking for dresses for the reaping. Eat up and put on your green dress that I bought you, no exceptions! Meet us in the square in time for the reaping,_

_Mother_

I put down the note and dig in. Whilst munching my bun, I notice that it's an extremely good breakfast compared to normal. Probably because it's the reaping. I honestly see no reason to celebrate a day like this, Mother is probably just nervous and is just making it seem like it's already passed and we're celebrating having gone through one more reaping. I despise the hunger games, killing off children like we're the Capitols pets. Each year, a girl and a boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen are reaped into an arena to fight to the death. The last one living wins. This year is the 46th hunger games. Since I'm fourteen and I don't take any tesserae, I should be fine; my name is only on three of the slips. I'm glad that I'm the only one in my family that I have to worry about being reaped, seeing as my little sister is still too young. Next year will be her first reaping.

I don't train for the hunger games because I think killing is fun. I do it because if I'm reaped, I stand a lot better chance of winning than most others who might not have ever even held a weapon in their hands before.

I decide to go to the training center to practice, hoping nobody realizes that I didn't bring the ten catfish they wanted. When I arrive nobody seems to notice I'm there, they just continue with what they're doing. I walk over to the knife throwing station, where I take a couple of clean shots. Knife throwing is my specialty, though I'm quite good with a sword. After a while I decide to recap on which plants are edible. After about an hour and a half I go to the camouflage station, which I'm terrible at. Each time I walk up to that station hoping to flatter myself, I fail. This time I continue till I'm satisfied, but then realize I got everything wrong and walk away in frustration.

I go home and get dressed in my bright green dress (as much as I would prefer shorts and a tank top), put my hair up in a casual ponytail and head out the door. It's much too hot for my taste, I feel my sweat trickling down my back, I'm not sure if it's caused by the unnatural warmth or if I'm just nervous. I make it to the square, where I spot my mother and my sister. I head towards them, once I've reached them mother says:

"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you! Come on sweetheart, we need to get your blood checked!"

A female peacekeeper walks over to me and grabs my arm, then jabs a needle in it. They do this to see if we are who we say we are, to find out our identity using the sample of blood. I walk over to the fourteen year olds section and wait for our escort Reyna, an exotically dressed woman with a curly red wig, to mount the stage.

"Welcome, welcome," She says with her Capitol accent, "to the forty sixth annual hunger games!"

I zone out for a couple of minutes whilst the mayor is giving the same old boring speech about the rebellion and how grateful we should be. I hear Reyna's piping voice saying: "Ladies first," she says as she reaches into the glass ball containing thousands of tiny slips, the square goes completely silent as she selects the slip, "Maisie Canterbury!"

I freeze. Am I imagining it? No. My name echoes in my head. Everybody parts leaving a path for me.

"Maisie Canterbury?!" Reyna repeats. Thousands of eyes are on me, I hear Padma screaming and pleading as I walk up to mount the stage.

"Now for the boys" she says as reaches in to the other glass ball and selects a slip, "Daren Smith!" A proud boy immediately jumps up on the stage. When we're told to shake hands I turn and he grabs my hand so fiercely that he seemed to be trying to break my wrist! I pull away and rub the where place it hurts. Our eyes meet and my eyes widen, it was the boy who insulted my family! I immediately look away. Dismissing the thought.

We're escorted to the justice building where we're both assigned a room to have our goodbyes. The room is extremely fancy; it almost gives you the feeling you're in the sea. It has a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The wallpaper is turquoise and with a pattern of fish. On the floor there's a single plain couch. The peacekeepers stay right outside the door. The door opens and my family enters. Padma rushes to me and embraces me in a hug. I feel her tears on my lap. My mother comes to my side, tears flowing from her eyes. Padma looks up at me with her tear stained eyes.

"You have to win," she almost whispers, "for me."


End file.
